The Great Date Plan
by existence555
Summary: Even though Tenten has done everything possible to get Neji to return her feelings, nothing has worked. Can Lee's plan get them together?


**A/N: Sorry if Neji's a little OOC… Anyway, I hope you enjoy my story. Review please!**

It was just another one of Tenten's failed attempts to catch Neji's attention. She had taken Ino's advice, thinking it had a slightly chance of working. Ino had rummaged through her closet to find a girly miniskirt and shirt for Tenten to wear. She was doubtful, but Ino and Gai-sensei both agreed that she looked super cute (and youthful).

She had gone to where she and Neji usually trained to find him fervently practicing a new move he was trying to perfect.

"Hi Neji!" she had called brightly, offering him a smile.

"Tenten, what are you wearing?" he had asked incredulously (not seeing her feminine side at all). "There's no way you can train in that. Go change into something sensible like your usual outfit."

"Uh, actually I came by to say I'm not training in the morning today," Tenten had lied, not wanting him to think that she was impractical. "I have some other stuff to do. I'll be by later in the day."

"Okay, whatever," Neji shrugged and went back to his techniques.

Tenten trudged toward her home dejectedly, thinking quite depressing thoughts. She was sure that he would never notice her as anything more than a friend/teammate, and that he obviously didn't think about girls anyway.

"Hi Tenten!" Lee yelled enthusiastically when he saw her.

"Oh, hey Lee," she sighed, thinking that he would try to pull her into some sort of horrible exercise.

"You look upset," Lee noted. "Do you wanna talk about it or something?"

He flashed his (and Gai-sensei's) trademark smile and thumbs up.

"Why not?" Tenten replied, returning his smile. "None of the girls have been able to help me."

They sat down on a nearby rock and began to chat about her problem.

"So what's bothering you?" he asked, genuinely worried.

"See, I really like Neji," she admitted, blushing slightly. "But he never acts like he's in to me. I've tried so many things. When I asked him out, he brought a friend. When I told him I liked him, he said I was a good teammate too. When I dressed up, he shot it down. You get the idea… I wish I could do something that would make him, I don't know, maybe reveal the possible feelings he has for me?"

"Hmmm, I see," Lee said, thinking hard. "I think I might know what you need to do."

He quickly told her his idea and the smile on her face began to widen.

"You're a genius!" she whispered excitedly. "I think this might actually do it!"

"I'll see you in the evening then," Lee grinned.

She went home, hoping this would be the last stunt she would have to pull before he noticed her. Tenten was sure that if this didn't work, nothing would, and she would be able to move on, knowing that she had done everything she could possibly have done.

That night, she wore her favorite dress and even let her hair down. Tenten went to go meet Lee for dinner as planned, at a place where Neji came frequently for large after training meals.

"Excuse me, do you know where my date is?" Lee asked her, blushing at the sight of such a beautiful girl.

"Lee you idiot!" she snapped. "It's me, Tenten."

Lee's mouth hung open as he looked over his suddenly gorgeous friend.

"Well then, to our table we go," he said, taking her hand and walking her over.

Meanwhile, Neji was exhausted and ready to eat. He was surprised that Tenten hadn't showed up and a little angry that she hadn't kept her promise. Well, she hadn't promised, but she hadn't told the truth. It just irritated Neji, in a very small corner of his mind. He saw Gai-sensei on the way to the restaurant and greeted him.

"Gai-sensei, do you know where Tenten was today?" he queried.

"Oh yes, Neji," Gai replied, grinning. "Let me let you in on a kind of secret. At this moment, Tenten is on a date with Lee. Isn't it just so exciting? Young love is so beautiful."

Gai-sensei started sobbing and started to run laps to shake off all the emotion.

Neji was stunned that she would do that. He had always imagined Tenten with someone more, well to be honest, more normal. Neji felt that he was pretty normal and felt a twinge of jealousy, wondering why she hadn't picked him. He shrugged his feelings off and made his way to his favorite restaurant.

When he walked in, he was speechless. What he saw was not pretty at all. Lee and Tenten were sitting at a table, deep in conversation. His hand was covering hers, and there was a hint of a blush on her beautiful face. He was mesmerized by the way her hair shook when she laughed.

"He's here," Tenten smiled, actually blushing because she had noticed his presence.

"Yes he is," Lee looked out of the corner of his eye. "Let the show begin."

They let their conversation run smoothly, careful not to look anywhere but each other. Neji came up to their table to inquire about their date.

"How's it going guys?" he asked, faking a smile. "You two look like you're meant to be together."

"Oh yes, I think she might be the one," Lee responded, squeezing Tenten's hand.

Tenten giggled, noticing that under the table, Neji's hands were rolled up into tight fists, shaking with the effort of not punching his green jumpsuit wearing teammate.

"What's wrong Neji?" she inquired innocently. "You look a little tense."

"Do I?" he gritted his teeth. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay," Lee told him. "Do you want to eat dinner with us?"

"Uh…" Neji began, definitely not wanting to accept the offer. "Actually, I, uh, already reserved a table for myself, so I guess not."

"That's fine," Tenten said, looking into Lee's eyes. "We have each other for company."

Neji's appetite was definitely gone. In fact he was ready to vomit. He was totally sickened by what he saw, and something in him just snapped all of a sudden. He swiftly brought up his fist and jammed it into the side of Lee's face.

"Neji, what are you doing?!" Tenten looked horrified. Inside, she was sure that their plan was working.

"Sorry Lee," Neji apologized smoothly. "My hand moved by itself."

"But why would you do that?" Lee questioned him, looking hurt and rubbing the large bruise that was blooming on his cheek. "What came over you?"

"IloveTenten," he blurted out, too quickly for anyone to understand.

In the moment he had before they started to react, he wondered how he had never noticed before. He had just thought of her as a teammate, even when they had gone to a movie together, even when she complimented him, and even when she had come to see him in the morning, looking surprisingly cute. Neji couldn't believe that he had hidden something this big from himself. Now that he thought about it, he did get uncharacteristically annoyed when Tenten wasn't there. And he did get a funny taste in his mouth when he saw other guys talking to her…

"What was that?" Tenten asked, hoping it had been what she thought.

"I think Neji's had a breakthrough," Lee teased, enjoying the rare blush on his friend's face.

Neji took a deep breath, feeling a little nervous. He turned to face Tenten, noticing that he had her full attention. He opened his mouth to find that nothing came out for a second or two.

"I love you Tenten," Neji confessed suddenly. "I'm sorry that I never told you. I don't want it to mean anything if you're happy with Lee, and I just want you to be happy. So don't bother about me, because I'm really okay without you and…"

Lee started laughing harder than he ever had before, and Neji was overcome by another urge to punch him. He was about to do so when he felt soft lips on his. Shocked but pleased, he pulled Tenten closer, resulting in a tender moment which left Lee's eyes filled with tears. When Tenten finally broke the kiss, she giggled.

"I love you," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It was always you, nobody else but you."

"Wait, what?" Neji asked, very confused at this point. "Then why are you going out with Lee?"

"Because there was no other way to get your attention genius," Lee pointed out. "She tried so many times, but you were too thick to see. That's why I had to step in."

Neji glared at Lee as he pulled Tenten into another kiss. She was surprised when he pulled away rather abruptly.

"What happened?" she put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, a worried expression appearing on her face.

"I'm really hungry," Neji mumbled as his stomach growled loudly for everyone to hear.

"Here, eat with us," Tenten offered. "I'm sure Lee won't mind… Right Lee?"

She turned around to look at him, but he was already gone.

"Well that was weird," Tenten remarked to Neji, but he was gone too. She looked down to find Neji on his knees.

"Tenten," Neji smiled, taking her hand. "Will you have dinner with me?"

"It would be my pleasure," she blushed.


End file.
